The rural profiles presented here are by no means meant to reflect the
whole range of learning circles in rural Canada. In fact the examples
were chosen from one county in southwestern Nova Scotia. Even though
this county, Digby County, does possess an amazing diversity - cultural
(Anglophone, Acadian African-Canadian, Mi'kmaq) geographic and
economic (fishing farming) - it still comes nowhere near reflecting the
diversity of rural Canada. Clearly, it would be impossible using this
approach to do justice to the variety of kinds of learning circles there
must be across rural Canada. Instead the idea was to gain some insights
about rural learning circles by drawing on some local examples. But there
some assumptions built in to this approach: that there is such
an entity as “rural Canada”, and that we can make any generalizations
about this entity in terms of learning circles, or anything else for
that matter. In order to put these examples in context it is worth examining
our assumptions.

“Rural” is not as simple a category as it first appears.
Of course we know what we mean when we say “rural”, e.g.
people who live in the country. But on closer examination this singular
category does not hold up very well. Think of the many different kinds
of communities - suburban, small town, northern, remote, Aboriginal and
so forth. And think of the different kinds of rural geographical and
economic regions: farming, fishing, hunting, and mining. Then there’s
the huge cultural diversity of rural Canada - Francophone, Aboriginal,
Sikh, Anglophone, Icelandic and so forth. Very quickly the concept of
rural Canada comes apart in our hands.

So what is it that defines “rural”? Is just the shared
popular culture of trucks, guns, ATVs and ball caps and country music? Or
is it the sum total of common experiences of everyday rural life: like
the common experience of standing at the kitchen window on a winter morning
wondering if the roads are fit for driving? Then there are various
different versions of rural Canada that are reflected in the media: the
nostalgic rural, the unsustainable rural, the backward rural, the neighbourly
rural and so forth. None of these stereotypes adequately gets at the
vast diverse, complex and rapidly changing places that make up rural
Canada today.

To be able to generalize about rural Canada, as we do in this project,
we have to look beyond these assumptions and stereotypes, to recognize
some fundamental realities that are common to rural Canada, and understand
how they affect adult learning in groups. In writing the narratives,
we identified a few of them. 1) A lot of people know each other. 2) Nature
affects people’s lives much more than in the city, economically,
socially and culturally. 3) People live farther part; distance of travel
is a major factor. Each of these characteristics has an effect on how
adult learning circles work in rural settings.

“Everyone knows everyone.” In
small towns and rural communities there is a very good chance that people
know each other. And even if they haven’t met you before, they
quite often know about your family background. This fact changes the
dynamic of how a group works, as compared to a group where no one has
any social relations outside the group. It also has implications for
literacy programming, relating to the still-present stigma of “illiteracy”.
This makes the issue inclusion very important in rural learning
circles.

Distance. Travel is always a major factor.
The lack public transportation, the cost of transportation, especially
with rising gas prices, and the long distances to be traveled all add
up to major barrier for many rural Canadians. This is a constant factor
that has to be dealt with in rural learning groups, an ever present potential
barrier to participation. And even if those barriers are addressed, many
meetings still have to be cancelled in the winter months because of bad
road conditions.

Nature. Beyond the obvious realties of living
in a natural setting - beautiful scenery, icy roads and hunting - it
is important to remember that the economies of rural communities are
usually dependent on natural resources like fishing, mining and forestry.
In farming communities, natural conditions have an immediate and dramatic
effect on livelihoods. This is truer than ever in the age of global warming.
Across Canada many local economies are being radically affected by the
rapid industrial extraction of natural resources.

In addition to these three basic factors, the rural narratives pointed
to a couple of other aspects of adult learning that are unique to rural
communities: ongoing traditions of adult learning and the role
of women in adult learning groups.

Traditions of Rural Adult Learning. Rural
communities have a long history of adult learning. In Nova Scotia this
goes back to the Coady Institute. Across Canada, the Women’s Institutes
and other groups have along history of supporting informal adult learning
in rural communities.

The Role of Women in Rural Learning. The Women’s
Institutes example also shows that women have long had an important role
in rural adult learning. This takes in a vast array of learning opportunities
form rug hooking to community economic development.

These aspects of rural learning circles have implications about how
we can support learning circles.

Inclusion. It is important to work to find
ways of including adults with lower literacy skills in a broad range
of rural activities.

Link to Natural Resources. It is important
to support rural learning circles that focus no the struggles and aspirations of
rural Canadian, in relation to the extraction and management of natural
resources.

Existing networks and organizations. It is
important support existing support networks and established traditions
of adult learning in rural communities.